Previous reports issued by DigiTimes revealed that at least three Chinese smartphone manufacturers decided to cancel their thin and light phone projects, after the poor commercial performance of the iPhone Air.
Xiaomi was mentioned among the brands included in the report, before a glimpse recently emerged of a prototype of the Xiaomi 17 Air phone that was supposed to compete directly with Apple’s phone.
Leaker Bald Panda highlighted this prototype via a video clip in which he showed off the body of the phone, which came with a striking back design that included a prominent camera strip containing two lenses.
In the back, Xiaomi relied on matte glass, while the camera unit received a glossy metal finish, giving the phone a more luxurious feel.
The leaker explained that the Xiaomi 17 Air would have come with a 6.59-inch screen, with a thickness not exceeding 5.5 mm only, making it about 0.1 mm thinner than the iPhone Air.
In the same context, Digital Chat Station indicated that the phone would have been powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, with a battery capacity of less than 6000 mAh, and a 200-megapixel main camera.
In the end, it seems that the Xiaomi 17 Air phone will not see the light of day, remaining merely an experimental model that reflects a bold direction that the company abandoned before reaching the commercial production stage.
